Stop being so serious, Widener...

Laser Graffiti
Facade Fun
Drive-in Movie




Our initial idea accents the two most striking features of the Widener facade: the columns and the monumental flight of stairs. Using color and light, it can become a display that reacts to movement, noise, or play games with the tourists. We were inspired by the work of Christopher Janney. He livens up a stagnate place by use of color, sound and interactivity. By using a similar approach, the silent looming mass of Widener Library can be transformed into something whimsical and animated instead of being so stiff, serious, and intimidating. Another source of inspiration are the large scale projects posted by Graffiti Research Lab - treating the large facade as a canvas that can generate and transform the aesthetics of the facade - or even to allow a taboo action (such as graffiti spraypaint) to be performed without permanent damage.

i-site: science center

"we live in a world populated by structures -- complex mixture of geological, biological, social, and linguistic constructions that are nothing but accumulations of materials shaped and hardened by history. Immersed as we are in this mixture, we cannot help but interact in a variety of ways with the other historical constructions that surround us, and in these interactions we generate novel combinations, some of which possess emergent properties. In turn, these synergistic combinations, whether of human origin or not, become the raw material for further mixtures. This is how the population of structures inhabiting our planet has acquired its rich variety, as the entry of novel materials into the mix triggers wild proliferations of new forms." - Manuel De Landa - A Thousand Years of Non-Linear History.